Professional negligence case struck out as claimant suffered no loss

In the recent case of Afan Valley Ltd v Lupton Fawcett LLP, a professional negligence claim against a law firm was struck out by the Court of Appeal, upholding an earlier decision of the High Court. 

What was the Afan Valley professional negligence case about?

A firm of solicitors called Lupton Fawcett LLP, provided legal advice to multiple companies, including Afan Valley Ltd, about property investment schemes, and whether the schemes should be classed as collective investment schemes. The distinction was important, as if Afan Valley's schemes should have been classed as collective investment schemes, they would need authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority.

Afan Valley and the other companies involved, sued Lupton Fawcett for professional negligence, on the basis that Lupton Fawcett had failed to advise them that the schemes were collective investment schemes. The claimants went on to argue that Lupton Fawcett should refund them money they had invested in the schemes. 

Afan Valley's claim failed, after Lupton Fawcett made an application for it to be struck out. Lupton Fawcett argued that as its clients still had the property they had invested in, which was of an equivalent value to the sums they had invested. Lupton Fawcett therefore persuaded the judge that its clients had not suffered any financial loss. 

Lupton Fawcett's clients raised an appeal to the Court of Appeal, in which they tried to claim other losses. However, the Court of Appeal rejected their arguments, saying that the High Court had been correct to strike out the original claim, and that the additional claims were outside the scope of what the law firm had been engaged to advise upon. The professional negligence claim therefore failed, although there is still the possibility of an appeal to the Supreme Court. 

Get legal advice about suing your solicitor 

The lessons to be learned from the Afan Valley case, for anyone considering bringing a professional negligence claim are:

1. Unless you can prove that your solicitor's negligent advice has caused you financial loss, your claim could be struck out; and
2. You can only sue your solicitor for negligence if the advice they failed to give you was within the scope of their retainer. 

If your solicitor has been negligent, if you lawyer keeps making mistakes, or even one mistake which causes you financial loss, you should be able to sue them for compensation. 

At Samuels Solicitors LLP, we have many decades of experience dealing with professional negligence claims. We act for clients from all over England and Wales, from our offices based in Devon and Newcastle. In some cases, we can deal with professional negligence claims under the terms of a conditional fee agreement, also known as a no win no fee agreement. We will assess at an early stage, whether your professional negligence claim is suitable for a no win no fee arrangement. 

You can speak to an expert professional negligence lawyer today, who will be able to tell you what the next steps are in your claim. Contact us to find out how we can help you, if your lawyer has been negligent.